The draw for our single London Marathon club place took place before
training last Wed. Charlie Roberts was pulled out the hat first, we wish
Charlie all the best in training and on Aprils race day.

The next 10K & 6K Time Trial which is back along Greenway (from the
Guilden Sutton to Chester & back, torches & reflective gear essential)
was pencilled in for Dec 13th, in order to try and get a 3rd one in
before the end of the year. Captain Colin has suggested it may be more
popular and will avoid the Xmas rush up to Xmas, if we delay it and do
the time trial between Xmas & New Year. So please put December 27th in
your diaries for this.

Please remember its the Xmas Handicap Race on 20th December (a time to
break away from the Xmas rush and come and contest this annual (fancy
dress if you wish) gallop from Tesco to Godscroft Lane & back before
going back to the club house for a bite to eat & Secret Santa (please
bring along a wrapped £5 present). Dave & Lesley will be in touch soon
organising the food and asking for volunteers to bring along pans of hot
soup (that’s if we decide to do the same as the last few years, it just
hits the spot!).

That’s it for now

Jackie

….and Paul Fs…..

The Cheshire cross country championship is fast approaching us now. The venue this year is Delamere forest, January 6th 2018.

I will be entering Helsby runners before Xmas so I don’t get caught out in the festive spirit and forget. Please confirm your name before Thursday 21st December.

Entering all the names together saves on administration fees

So if any Helsby folk would like to run please email me at mooeyf@hotmail.com or respond on Facebook. I will post a Facebook page once the blog is out this week.

The club pays for all the fees for every runner so please check dates before entering to make sure that you can run.

It’s Borders League Race 2 this Sunday 3rd, and we are heading over to Birkenhead Park for the famous 4 laps. Yes i know it’s a little dull but your continued support and great turnouts recently really is appreciated, remember 4 counters for the ladies, 10 for the men, the more the merrier and all abilities welcome, just bring your club vest. More details on the link below.

This Friday night, 1st December, it’s the annual Xmas Party, and we are sticking with tradition, Helter Skelter 7.30pm, Xmas jumpers a must, and a good old knees up, hopefully see some of you new members there as well and the old crew. Make sure you bring your singing voices.

Park run seen runners out in Pennington Flash, Delamere, & Erddig, Full consolidated results below

Well the green army turned up on a bitterly cold wet Saturday afternoon for the opportunity to run with some of the best in the country.

Rachael Holden was the green soldier for the ladies doing one loop and 2 laps of the course. Think it was 5 miles. (Hope I got that right). The men did one loop and 3 laps just short of 6 miles. Difficult to stay upright on one of the muddiest courses I have ran in a long time.

Respectable finishes for all. Thanks to Mario, Joe and Jane for support & for post run treats.

Cheers Bish

Think Bish is being very modest, as he had a cracking run and was first home for the men and teaching me a lesson how to pace a cross country race, well done

Here is a link to another race report, showing the quality of the field on the day

The entries will be paid for before you get there so no one will have to mess about wasting time.

I know last year they said they weren’t but for some reason the message never got to the people giving out the numbers.

Any problems on the day feel free to contact me

Paul”

***

Sandstone Trail Challenge 2018

A brief reminder from Andy Robinson:

“The Sandstone Trail Challenge opens for entries on 1 Dec at midnight. If you want a place, you’ll have to stay up late & get in quick: the runners’ places went within 10 hours last time.”

***

Racing News

Morunner – Saturday 18/11/17

Thanks to Colin Bishop for sending in the first race report of the week – and well done Col!

“Hi

Nice crisp morning on Saturday saw a great turnout for Morunner at Croxteth Park

Plenty of top lip accessories both real and fake and funnily enough male and female top lips. 😁

The 10k course was 2 laps of the parkrun course near enough.

Plenty of cheering along the way and encouragement from the 5k runners who had started 10 minutes earlier.

Happy to report I finished 2nd with a respectable time of 36.38

Nice moustache medal at the finish.

Cheers Bish”

***

Penmaenmawr Fell Race – Saturday 18/11/17

Thanks to Laura for sending in a report about the Pen fell race:

“Eight green vests plus supporters took the trip to Penmaenmawr for the annual Penmaenmawr Fell race on Saturday. It was a cracking day and the views across the coast and mountains were definitely worth the effort of the climb and the joy of the ‘bog’ crossing. Although at least there wasn’t snow on the ground this year. This is one of my favourite races, really runnable and fantastic views. Runners enjoy most of the climb in the fist part of the race, then it is across the bog hoping to only go in up to your knees rather than your shorts, then a mostly flat run back in (with bonus of support from Mario and Joe) finishing with a very sharp descent to the finish line. All there is left to do after the 10+ miles is collect your race beer! Great running by the whole green army team, big thank you to Joe and Mario, Chris and boys for the support!”

Conwy Half Marathon – Sunday 19/11/17

Great to get two aspects on the same race with reports coming in from Richard Hankins and Geoff Collins. First report was sent in by Richard:

“Seven of us crossed the border for the Conwy Half Marathon today – the last road counter of 2017. It was run in near perfect conditions: beautiful sunshine, light winds and a little chilly. Jim Jones rocked up despite running in the fell race the day before which is impressive. Fitzy, the great proponent of this additional race was nowhere to be seen?

For those who have not done it the race deserves to be in the Runners World five most scenic half marathons. Starting on the Quay alongside Edward the 1st impressive castle built to suppress the Welsh Princes of Gwynned. It crosses the bridge, passes through Deganwy and into Llandudno. It then circles the Great Orme in an anticlockwise direction. This introduces two miles of consistent climb and was pretty tough, but beautiful. The route then follows the river back to Conwy. It isn’t a run to aim for a PB on. More one to savour the views and the atmosphere.

Three thousand had entered this year selling the race out and a good starting position was essential to prevent a frustrating mile stuck in traffic. Its well organised and friendly and I’d certainly recommend it. Perhaps Fitzy will make it next year?”

And now, over to Geoff:

I’ve just read the report I wrote for last year’s Conwy half. It would be good to have this race as a club counter next year I wrote! Well sometimes wishes do come true, and this was to be the last of our club road counters being our 13th race.

I love this race for the beautiful scenic coastal location, where do you get better views than this?

Or this? Spot the three runners in the water below?

I think I must qualify as an ‘ever present’ having done eight out of the nine races.

Weather conditions were perfect on the day, little wind completely dry, and sunny towards the end of the race. Ideal for going up the Great Orme! But it’s a hard race with over 816 feet of climb, but with a very fast descent! This year the number of finishers was up on last year at 2,555.

A bit touch and go whether I would make it to the start line with a touch of PFPS in one knee and recovering from a cold. I wouldn’t recommend you do it the Physio tells me. I decide to ignore his advice, top up on pain killers and hope I’m still alive at the end. Yes I know I shouldn’t do it!

This race would also determine all the age category winners. The men’s V50’s & V60’s has seen a lot of friendly completion this year. It would be down to who turned up for this race and their finishing

order that would be the decider. There was also going to be an unexpected surprise change at the top of the ladies leader board with Janet as the only Helsby lady in this race too.

Eight Helsby runners turned up, including Richard Hankins going for his record tenth counter and myself for my ninth counter.

The Helsby finish order was;

Richard Hankins 1hr 31

Jim Jones 1hr 40m

Mike Williams 1hr 43m

Roy Gaskill 1hr 48m

Geoff Collins 1hr 54m

Geoff Shaw 1hr 57m

Matt Willcott 1hr 56m

Janet Shaw 2hr 25m.

Finally I thought I would do a quick check on who has run the most miles in this year’s road counters. It must be Richard with 10 races to his credit, but no it isn’t.

This is who has run the most miles;

Mens

1st Geoff Collins 72.9m 9 races

2nd Richard Hankins 72.1m 10 races

3rd Jim Jones 47.9m 7 races

Ladies

1st Janet Shaw 36.7m 7 races

2nd Tanya Downes 27.4m 4 races

3rd Carol Shaw 26.7m 6 races.

***

Parkrun Saturday 18/11/17

Well done all Parkrunners. We had 11 Helsby out at various Parkruns on Saturday with some impressive results and rankings:

We’ve not heard yet about how many London Marathon place our club has been allocated. It’s usually mid-November. If we have heard by next week we will hold the draw at next weeks club talk. To be entered into the draw you need a 2018 rejection slip plus to have competed in at least 2 Border League Races in the previous 12 months. Please can you email jackie your rejection slips asap (jackiekeasley@btinternet.com). (PS Suzie & Rachel, I’ve already got yours).

Planning ahead for the Four Villages, our stock of white stakes for hanging tape from seems to have dwindled. Not sure if they were returned from previous races, but if you have them please can you let me know, save having to buy new ones.

Cheers & thanks Jackie

North West Sunday League XC – Beacon Park

Thanks for Fitzy for sending in the sole race report this week…over to Fitzy…

What perfect running conditions Sunday morning brought us, clear blue sky’s and not too cold, perfect I thought, until we got to Beacon Park, Skelmersdale. We arrived and somehow the temperature had dropped and a pretty chilly wind had arrived. Nobody seemed up for this race upon arrival, especially myself, everyone saying they felt like they had zero energy and really couldn’t be bothered.

That was until we started taking the Michael out of one another’s attire and started racing. Skem’s XC course is brilliant, a big lap of the top field, and then down into the secluded trails of Beacon Park, seeing us complete 2 laps, the second a lot harder than the first. The mud didn’t disappoint, very thick, lots of it especially on the second lap, and plenty of big climbs some gradual, and some very steep, and as per usual plenty of folk trying their best to stay on their feet, some better than others.

Some great pictures on social media and a few highlights of the day were definitely Steve Riley’s different coloured footwear, Ian Rutherford’s hand knitted gloves and finally Emily Smiths photo of her going around the puddles.

Huge congratulations to Lucinda Lamb, coming home in 1st Place overall, making it a 100% record in her first two outings in the L&D Sunday league, and that helped cement the ladies 3rd Place overall in the league. Better to come from the men I’m sure but still a respectable mid table finish on the day.

Next up is Arrowe Park, on 10th December, would be great to get another great turnout

I was lucky enough to get selected to run for Cheshire again at the Abergele 5 Inter-counties champs against North Wales so on Sunday I slipped into my Cheshire vest and made my way over there. The weather was pretty horrific, gale force winds, hail and rain so I spent most of the time sitting in my car trying to keep warm before the start. I’m definitely a fair weather runner! The course is very similar to the one used in the borders league so it’s an out and back along a coastal path with a small diversion around a caravan park. The wind was against us on the way out so it made for a slow and tactical first half with everyone trying to use each other as a wind break, but on the way back it was a case of eye balls out and hang on to the finish. I managed to get 29.06 , 15th overall and 4th Cheshire counter (6 per team), both the men’s and ladies teams won on the day so it was a great result for everyone!

It was also nice to see a few green vests there, Bish had a fantastic race to win the overall v55 category and the Wiggo’s had a great run too. Well done chaps!

Fitzy, king of the uncapitalised personal pronoun, sent in this from Arley Hall

Saturday seen me head back to Arley Hall and compete again in the Cheshire 10k after winning my age category back in March, and also getting my 10k PB, so i fancied giving it another go on a really fast course. The weather was very different to March, heavy rain with a bit of wind, made for an absolutely brutal start, especially traipsing over the waterlogged muddy fields to pick up your race number and and go to the toilet. I was muddier by the start of this race than I was at the previous weekends XC at Arrowe Park, and it was a road race.

I started the race really well and everything was going to plan up until a mile and a half out because as per usual i’d gone off far to fast yet again, when will i learn. With it being a very local race i was expecting to see a lot more from the green army there, but I only seen Carol Shaw, who ran a brilliant race to secure second in her age category. I managed to finish with my second fastest 10k, so i was more than happy with the end result. I would recommend this race to all you road loving tarmac slappers, hopefully we can get it as a road counter next year and get a few more down to a great race, even if the weather did spoil it a little.

The winner, Matt Clowes, all the way from Cardiff running club ran 29 mins 44 secs, and with the top ten all coming in under 34 mins, it was a very strong field

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Sorry for the blog being late this week, it’s been a busy week. Few notices before last weeks race reports

The Helsby Community Sports Club Fireworks is this Friday evening. It’s a major fund raiser for the club so please try and come along & bring the family to enjoy the display and activities & support your club.

A message from Foz regarding up and coming cross country races

Hi everyone

The next cross country race in the Liverpool and district’s league, is in Sefton park on Saturday 25th November.

The race is pre entry and I will be sending the entries in for Helsby. So if you would like to run please let me know via email mooeyf@hotmail.com or Facebook. I will set up a page on Facebook after this weeks blog.

I will need to have all names in by Sunday 12th November at the latest

Anybody new to this event, there is a women’s race first then the men’s race.

It is a great event in the xc calendar.

I will send a message out before the day to confirm times for the start of the races but they will be in the afternoon.

Any questions please feel free to contact me.

Thanks Paul

Also another note regarding this as i know it was brought up at the AGM, if you are putting your name down for this race or any of the future pre-entry races, please try your very best to attend, the club actually pays the entry fee’s for these races, i think some are unaware of this and think it’s a free of charge race like the Sunday league races, it’s not. We all understand that sometimes life gets in the way of us racing, and sometimes it cannot be helped. Don’t let that put you off entering though, they are great races…..Cheers…FITZY

Park run seen runners out in Pheonix, Chester, Delamere, Widnes, & Exeter. Full consolidated results below, and also Bish’s report from Exexter Park Run

Due to commitments couldn’t start the XC season this weekend so took part in the less muddy parkrun at Exeter. One lap along the river around the university playing Fields and back to the finish. As usual with any parkrun very friendly and welcoming would say at least half of the runners were parkrun tourists. The first two runners finished well under sub 16 mins.

Definitely one to recommend if anyone is visiting Exeter Lots of after run breakfast opportunities along the quayside

Always a good reason to run 😊

Cheers Bish

Over to CBH and another adventure, why can’t he just send in a simple borders league report ?

OMM Elite 2017

2017 saw The OMM* (Original Mountain Marathon) celebrate its 50th year, so it seemed ridiculous not to enter. Max and I entered the Elite class which is 85km of true mountain running and orienteering. The OMM is a massive event and it dwarfs all other mountain marathons with 2000 competitors and I should have been raring to go, but it was going to be a bitter sweet outing for me as it would be my last run for 3 months due to an old stress fracture. Still, I was about to spend two days in my favourite running event format along with Max, so I was certainly planning to go out on a high.

We woke to find the forecast had been spot on: Clag from 450m and windy, but it was reasonably warm for the time of year and we set out as the drizzle started. Langdale is my favourite part of the lake district and the course was set between Langdale and Wasdale so it was pretty much perfect, but certainly lumpy. We made good progress on the first climb, nailed the first check and headed up over Sargent Man for the second check which again we hit spot on despite the poor visibility. The line from 2 to 3 involved a lot of contouring and I was pretty sure we had it spot on. Just as Max uttered “Can we just check we’re on the right line?” Jim Mann and his team mate came past like a bullet with Steve Birkenshaw and his partner just a metre or two behind. Max and I got caught up in it too and it was truly exhilarating. Racing across in those conditions watching the two teams duke it out was really something special. We lost them in the clag 5 or 10 minutes later and Max was struggling with a foot injury he’s yet to get to the bottom of.

To cut a long story short we managed to tag two more check points before Max made the right call and decided to head back due to the pain in his foot. So right there and then the race was over. It’s a really difficult thing to do when you have another person in the team. You don’t want to let them down or ruin their fun. Of course this is never the case. There are so many moving parts in paired endurance races that you just have to take it on the chin.

Max wanted me to continue and I was having so much fun we decided to split with Max heading back to camp and me continuing on my own. Both being highly experienced in the mountains and carrying the kit for an overnight stop meant that the risk was really low. There were thousands in the area who could pass on a message, there were safety points all over the map so we split and I cracked on. A few checkpoints later I had a nightmare in the clag and the fiendish terrain. Ultimately I lost so much time that I timed out at the next check point. All was not lost though, despite the frustration I was still having a cracking time. The OMM is no picnic and the Elite class really affords little margin for error. Simply put I made too many. We’d had an awesome day out despite how it ended for both of us it was really fitting for my final run to be at such an incredible event. The organisation was really first class. I’d totally recommend this event to everybody (despite the time of year!) taking on a score class so you can decide when to call it a day, or even one of the linear course is just a perfect way to spend a weekend. Many people fear the navigation, but you really needn’t… you have a go, you do your best and whether you finish or not, you’ll certainly have chalked up an adventure!

This weekend seen the start of the Cross Country season, no reports come in, but luckily for you all i was at both, so a little summery below

Saturday seen a gang of us head over to Arrow Park for the season’s opener, which was 3 laps of a field (6 miles), just behind the hospital, with a few hills thrown in, a little bit of mud, and plenty of wind. I was expecting a much bigger turn out for this one but i think due to the Sunday league race being the day after, a lot of people stayed away, apart from Liverpool Harriers, there was plenty of them.

Froddy roled back the years with an impressive run and a age category win in the M55 category, and Ian Rutherford rolled down the hill with an impressive 2nd in the M45 category.

Sunday seen an even bigger gang of us head over to Clarke Gardens, Liverpool, for the Sunday league opener. This was the exact opposite of Saturday, 479 runners turned up to this one, it was amazing looking back after the start seeing a mass of colours running around the park on what was a perfect morning for running.

Some great performances from both teams, on what was a great cross country course, measuring just under 5 miles, even though part of the woods resembled bits of the hellrunner course. The highlight for me was seeing a Penny Lane Strider come over the finish line heading back to his tent, covered, and i mean covered head to toe in mud, obviously going for a bit of a tumble along the way.

A massive shout out to Lucinda Lamb, wearing the green vest for the first time i think, coming home in 1st place for the ladies, followed by Jenny Illidge and jane Ashbrook. Chris Collins was home first for the men, El Capitano next followed by myself.

The men finished 8th out of 21 teams on the day, the ladies 4th out of 18 teams, with a lot more to come i think this season especially with a lot of new faces turning up and everyone seeming to enjoy it. Wait until you get to Birchwood Park and it’s lashing down!!!

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Welcome to another weekly round-up. Please remember to keep sending any race reports, even if it’s only a couple of sentences, to helsby-race-reports@outlook.com.

Upcoming Events

A message from Paul Foster regarding the upcoming X-Country Season:

“Hi all

As some of you will already know and hopefully everyone will now. The cross country season is fast approaching with a double whammy of fixtures.

Saturday 28th October is the Liverpool and district league at Arrow park wirral 2pm

Sunday 29th October is the north west Sunday league at Clarke gardens Liverpool at 10am

To all new runners in the club you will love it. Cross country races are free to run as long as you are first claim to Helsby and you wear your beautiful green vest. Some races in the Saturday league are pre entry but I will send out a message nearer the time to remind everyone. There will be additional races to pre enter like the northern’s and the Cheshire champs which again I will send out a message.

So what a great weekend to start a weekend of mud. Hopefully the green army will have a great turnout

Cheers Paul”

Racing News

Warrington RC 5 mile Trail Race (4th of 4) – Saturday 21/10/17

Thanks to Colin Bishop for sending in the first of the race reports this week:

“Saturday at Colliers Moss saw the last in this race series. 4 races over the year one for each season, with separate bling that fits together to make one big piece of bling.

This was a tough multiterrain course mostly dirt paths undulating and muddy in parts. Plenty of twists and turns.

Would strongly recommend this series for next year not sure if it could be considered for a club counter but sure there would plenty of the Green Army who would enjoy it.

Cheers Bish”

Standish Hall 10k Trail Race – Saturday 21/10/17

Thanks to Debbie Read for the following report:

“On Saturday afternoon I braved Storm Brian and ventured up the M6 to do the Standish Hall 10k Trail Race.

It’s a traditional enter on the day club run organised by Wigan Phoenix and happens twice a year – February and October. Entry fee is £6 and all finishers get a Wigan Pie!
Using bridlepaths and woodland, the two lap course is relatively flat with no major hills, however, due to all the recent rain the going was heavy in places this year but if, like me, you don’t mind a bit of mud, it didn’t make it any less enjoyable.
There were 133 runners and I finished 9th female in 56:00.”

Serpent 6 Mile Trail Race – Sunday 22/10/17

A 2nd Report from Colin Bishop – thanks Bish:

“Well along with the unwanted company of Brian (storm Brian that is) I headed over to Bolton to take part in the new Serpent 6 mile trail run.

This testing twisting and turning uphill downhill with uphill finish was challenging and enjoyable. Unfortunately direction arrows were vandalised by Brian sending some runners the wrong way meaning they ran a shorter distance than others and somehow myself and a few others ran more than the 6 miles –Typical

Having said all that it is one I would do again providing Brian doesn’t turn up again

Clwydian Hills Fell Race – Sunday 22/10/17

On Sunday just four Helsby runners ran in the Clwydian Hills Fell race. With Joe and Mario out in support the relatively small Helsby turnout still made their presence known as the 5th Placed Team from 37 Clubs that were represented on the day. We were fortunate with the weather as the rain stayed off and visibility remained good for the duration of the race. There was however, some strong winds and plenty of mud along the route of 8.5 miles and 3300ft of ascent.

There were 118 finishers with Helsby’s results below and it was great to see a new member having such good result – welcome to Helsby RC Lucinda!

Chris Collins 9th (85:49)

Lucinda Lamb 35th overall, 5th Lady (96:08)

Jim Jones 52nd (106:21)

Laura Baynham-Hughes 62nd overall, 2nd Vet 40 Lady (109:36)

I’d like to extend a big thank you to North East Wales Search & Rescue (NEWSAR) who, as always, did fantastic job of organising and hosting this event. Please take a minute to see how you can support NEWSAR at no cost to yourself via their fundraising page https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/newsar/

Parkrun Saturday 21/1017

Our club consolidated results for all Parkruns this Saturday are below. The Delamere Parkrun on Saturday was the final counter in our Club Trail Series, so anyone who ran at Delamere on Saturday will also get a point for the TUC competition.

That’s all the racing news for this week. I’d just like to extended a warm welcome to Sandy Williams who has also recently joined us and I hear is looking forward to the Borders League. We’re looking forward to running with you Sandy.

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Welcome to this weeks blog. Before we get to the racing news please see a few words from our XC Co-ordinator Paul Foster below.

As some of you will already know and hopefully everyone will know the cross country season is fast approaching with a double whammy of fixtures.

Saturday 28th October is the Liverpool and district league at Arrow park wirral 2pm

Sunday 29th October is the north west Sunday league at Clarke gardens Liverpool at 10am.

To all new runners in the club you will love it.

Cross country races are free to run as long as you are first claim to Helsby and you wear your beautiful green vest.

Some races in the Saturday league are pre entry but I will send out a message nearer the time to remind everyone.

There will be additional races to pre enter like the northern’s and the Cheshire champs which again I will send out a message.

So what a great weekend to start a weekend of mud

Hopefully the green army will have a great turnout

Cheers Paul

Farndon 10k

A big thanks to Ian Rutherford for sending in a report for this race and well done to all those who attended from the Green Army.

This was the final race of the series of 7 races that comprises Cheshire County Road Race GP which has been well supported by the Greenarmy this year. Full results for the series will be available shortly. To the race itself, well, mild and settled autumn weather has prevailed all weekend and subsequently great running conditions were set for this race. A decent size field of over 700 runners assembled just south of the village of Farndon in the beautiful and rural country lanes for this 10K road race. The course is a ‘lollipop’ shape with first and last 2K ran on the same lane, in obviously opposite directions. The loop takes in the affluent villages of Stretton and Tilston and includes the very pretty Stretton Watermill. Aside from the large dwellings and garaged 4×4’s my main recollection is that the course was a little more undulating than certainly I anticipated with approx. 650ft of ascent; yes, yes calm down Felsby, I’m just saying 😉

The course was well supported when passing the village pubs and as you’d expect Mike H’s Cute Fruit events are was flawlessly organised. Unusually for 10K’s a beautiful medal was awarded to each finisher which for the Greenarmy meant the following:

Pos

Name

Club

Chip Time

Gender Pos

Category

Cat Pos

30

Ian Rutherford

Helsby Running Club

39:10:00

27

Vet 45

7

136

Paul Roberts

Helsby Running Club

45:33:00

116

Vet 40

20

247

Geoff Collins

Helsby Running Club

50:31:00

196

Vet 60

11

267

Matt Willcott

Helsby Running Club

51:45:00

207

Vet 40

36

348

David Wiggins

Helsby Running Club

55:01:00

243

Vet 55

21

412

Stephen Wiggins

Helsby Running Club

58:10:00

271

Senior Male

85

Palma 10k

A few of our members flew out to Palma for their annual 10k over the weekend, looked like great fun and a stunning location to boot! Colin Bishop has kindly sent in a report for this, please read on…

“A few of us from Helsby had a little jaunt to Palma de Mallorca, myself Ian Hamling, Rachael Holden, Chris Holden (unattached), Nikki Hamling (Widnes Running Club), also believe Tanya Meredith was there too.

All took part in the Palma 10K in temperatures in excess of 24’C

With the start and finish in the shadows of the stunning Cathederal the route took us out alongside the seafront, along the marina and back again, a little challenging with some inclines and heat, as already mentioned.

Plenty of support, water stations and refreshments along the way.

I was first home from our group in 12th postion overall, 1st MV55, time 35.49, Ian second 77th position overall time 42.35 with Rachael leading the ladies in 379 overall with time of 52 minutes. Believe from FB Tanya did under 60 minutes with her first race since VLM.. Well done Tanya.

Nikki had fantastic run keeping her time under 60 minutes too, with Chris managing 1.10 for only his second 10k ever, his first being EHM 10k last month. Believe for the 10k there was over 2500 runners from at least 10 countries

Finally would like to thank Mrs B for all her support, shouts and cheers of encouragement and of course her flapjacks that hit the spot after the race.”

Cheers
Bish

Hellrunner

Fitzy returned to Delamere for the annual “Hell up North”, a 12 mile mud-fest through swamps and lakes, not for the faint hearted! Over to Fitzy with this fab report…

“Hellrunner is normally an event that brings with it pretty cold weather, and people are normally dropping like flies due to hypothermia after coming out of Lucifer’s Lake with their knee’s well and truly knocking. Well this year seen the warmest October day i can remember for a long time, and rather than putting on an extra layer i was putting my Factor Fitzy on to stop me burning.

It made all of the bogs and water crossings pleasantly delightful, although it was still muddy as always, the hills of hell where very slippy due to all the recent rain and a lot of tree felling that’s recently been done in Delamere made some of the trail paths extremely slippy and difficult to get through. It wouldn’t be called Hellrunner though otherwise, and all 1200 runners seemed to enjoy the course with some great fancy dress costumes on show, which was just slightly under 13 miles.

I was 4 mins slower than last year but improved on my 11th place last year to bag 6th, whilst new member Peter Rodriguez managed 27th position, showing us all how good a runner he is. I think it was only us 2 doing this event this year. I’ve been an ever present since 2009, and even give up my match ticket so i wouldn’t miss it. Fancy dress next year dressed as Boydy i think!!”

Fell Relays

Steve has kindly written a few words about the Fell Relays on Sunday. Thanks Steve and well done Green Army!

“Relays: it was great. 18 runners, 3x teams, everyone played a blinder. Special thanks to Danielle & Andy, pulled in at last minute to save the day and Katie pushing her comfort zone (away from the portaloos) after a bout of food poisoning the day before.”

Like this:

My turn for the blog, and yes as per usual its a busy one when i seem to do it normally with CBH’s auto-biographies that go on forever, or loads of race reports keeping me very busy. Love it though, wouldn’t want it any other way, keep sending them in please, helsby-race-reports@outlook.com

Ok first announcement, and the most important one, Helsby RC Christmas Party Night out has been confirmed for Friday 1st December. Christmas jumpers compulsory. Meeting in Helter Skelter at 7.30pm, we shall see where the night then takes us. Would be great to see some of the new members there.

Over to Jackie for a couple of race reports to kick this weeks off

View from the Sidelines

Not being fit enough to enter the tough final Fell counter of the season, The Langdale Horseshow, the next best thing was to go up and spectate.

A wet, soggy, misty. muddy, windy day nearly got the organisers changing to the bad weather course as the race tent had blown away overnight and the start field a quagmire. Anyway at the final hour, the full course was decided on and at 11am the runners set off at a gallop up Stickle Gill to Thundacarr Knots and then along the the whole Langdale Valley skyline around to Pike O Bisco. Max & Jimmy were our only Green vest reps today with Phil, Kate (with dogs Lucy & Beth) & me supporting. Having seen them set off we climbed Bowfell Band as fast as possible (sweating in full waterproofs) to get to 3 Tarns (the half way point) just in time for the first speedy runners to come through followed soon by Max and Jimmy. The number of runners we saw fall, slip & slide down Bowfell was incredible. We were the only folks supporting as a few others
had arrived but found it too cold to stay and wait. After no more than 30mins supporting we were frozen and ran down following the grassy then steep slopes of the aptly named Hell Gill. At the bottom we waded a deep wide stream carrying Kates panicking dogs! A final clamber over greasy slabs just above a series of steep slippy drops to substantial
waterfalls got us down to the calm flat of the valley. We missed Max finishing but were just in time for Jimmy. Looking around the field of runners there were tons of cut legs & injuries, with everyone saying how horrendous it was underfoot all the way around, the toughest Langdale yet & how nobody had seemed to enjoy it! They all looked elated to be
back though! Considering we had only spectated we had had our work cut out and I for one was exhausted but on a high, especially for Max & Jimmy completing such a toughie!

1st Carl Bell 2:13:14
46th Max 3:43:47
116th Jimmy 3:08:48 (unsure if these are the correct way around or not but well done guys)

The next morning I headed down to Farnden, the 16 mile point of the Chester Marathon. At the top of hill climb from the river, with lots of cheering crowds and a local young band playing outside the village coffee shop, it was a buzzing place to support. Soon Darrren, Paul, Ben, Kate, Tim, Graham, Chris and Ste came through. Daz was looking really strong & going too fast for me to get a snap, and apologies I hadn’t realised
Lesley was running so missed her (photos attached). Then I went on into Chester to Sandy Lane, the top of the the last hill at 25 miles before the home straight onto the Racecourse. A great atmosphere, makes me want to come out of road marathon retirement & do our local one! Well done to all finishers!

Lesley also sent this to me………..Hi Jackie, I was running with a friend and her son who hadn’t done a marathon before. They both struggled a little from about mile 11! But we had fun and they completed it and raised £600 for Cancer Research.

Jackie

I also know CBH and his mate where supporting 2 guys running as a horse, yes a horse, i think it may have beaten Wiggo as well by a nose.

Ben Williams also did a Chester report, thanks for sending this in Ben

Sunday was my first marathon, and although I have done ultras in the past I knew this would be a whole different ball game. I’d never run continuously for 26 miles, or covered that many miles on hard surfaces. I was worried that my lack of training for this event would find me out very quickly. When people asked what my target was, it genuinely was ‘finish it’. Other than that, I figured that doubling my ‘comfortable’ HM pace and adding a bit would give me a 4 hour target.

It was good to catch up with the Green Army at the start area, before getting into the relevant starting pen ready for the off. Once we started I settled in behind the three 4-hour pacers, who were bantering and giving out little tips as we went through the city and out to Eccleston. Heading down Rake Lane I edged ahead of them, mainly to escape the big group of runners who were following them. I never pulled far ahead, just enough to keep some space around me. I passed Ste Wiggins on the out-and-back section around halfway but otherwise I didn’t see any Green Army runners out on the course.

After leaving Aldford the support thinned out a bit, and I started to struggle along the country lane. The pacers passed me as we crossed the bypass back into Huntington, and I didn’t have the legs to match their pace. The closing stages were a struggle, I walked up Sandy Lane hill and again near the Groves, before the final run in to the racecourse to finish in 4.02.05 (chip time).

The support around the course was great, thanks to all the Green Army who were out and about. There were great turnouts in each of the villages too, with bands playing and a real ‘event’ feel to things. I’d definitely recommend it to anyone as a first marathon. Well done to all the Helsby runners and friends who ran it.

Ben

Kate Mann also sent in what i think is her first report and hopefully first of many, thanks Kate

‘As I ran my first marathon this weekend, I thought it might be fitting to send in my first ever race report as well! After putting it off for a years, I finally entered the Chester marathon and as Ste Wiggins will attest I was more than a little nervous for it!

Conditions for the first half were pretty perfect and I tried to stick with the 4:15 pacers to avoid going out too quickly. Having drifted ahead of the pacers, at around 8 miles I was joined by Chris, Tim and Graham for a while which really gave me a boost and we got plenty of cheers for Helsby! After hitting the half way mark I decided I would try and up the pace a bit and really settled into it and, it was a lovely surprise to see Jackie in Farndon, at the top of the first significant incline of the route at around 16 miles.

In training I had never managed to do more than 18 miles so it was a little scary running past the 18 mile marker, however at this point I was surprisingly really enjoying myself! The rain started to set in as I reached 22 miles and my garmin was also flashing low battery so there was plenty of incentive to speed up on the way back into the city centre to finish in 4:08.

The majority of the course is gently undulating country roads which my training on the 4vhm route prepared me well for, and the hill at 24 miles is close enough to the finish that it wasn’t too demoralising even with the rain (especially with Jackie supporting again at the top!). The finish at the race course is on grass which was a bit of a mud bath but with the impressive medal and finishers bag , it was well worth it!

As with the Chester Half, it was a really well organised race with plenty of water, gels and sports drinks on route, and although a lot of it is country roads there is plenty of support as you pass through each village. I would definitely recommend it for anyone who was looking to run their first marathon as it’s reasonably flat with a good atmosphere, and I would also imagine that it would be a decent route to try for a PB.’

Thanks, Kate

I see you wrote you started to ‘enjoy yourself.’…really Kate? Well done on your first marathon and race report

There was also some sad news coming out of the Chester metric marathon on Sunday, that a local running club member Trevor Cording of Northwich Running Club (NRC) had passed away during the race. I see from social media a few of our members knew him, so we would like to send our condolences from all at Helsby RC to all of his Family, friends, and running buddies.

Croxteth Park on a crisp autumn morning. Lovely morning for a 10k. Rain held off for over 500 runners. Starting at the church a mix of long tarmac paths and muddy trails. Two laps around the park saw podium positions for Liverpool Harriers 123, & 6th position for me and 1st V55. I would recommend this one especially as it raises money for a great cause.

Maybe a future road counter Bish?

Over to El Capitano for a report on Cheshire Half marathon

Myself and Fitzy managed to blag a couple of free places through the club (thanks Steve Riley J) so I picked him up in the morning and off we went to the lovely Arley Hall for the Cheshire Half Marathon.

It was a surprisingly low key event with only around 400 runners which I actually prefer as it feels less corporate and has a more relaxed atmosphere, it reminded me of a club organised event very much like the 4 Villages or the Village Bakery. I have to say the organisation was very well done with easy parking, some entertainment, stalls and plenty of porta-loos so well done to the Cheshire Half team.

The course is essentially 2 laps of the 10k route with a bit added on so some fast times should have been up for grabs, unfortunately my legs just didn’t want to play ball on the day and I fell off the pace early but was still happy to get into the top 10 with 1.21.24.

Fitzy had a great run which saw him arrive home in 7th place with 1.19.36, well done mate. Great for the club to have 2 runners in the top ten! A very enjoyable race on nice rural country lanes (with some locals coming out to support) and a pretty flat course too, I shall definitely have another crack at it in the future so if you get any more free places let me know 😉

Yes i echo Col’s remarks about the event, surprised this isn’t pulling in more runners as was very well organised

Jim Jones is putting in some serious mileage at the minute, and seems to be racing every week, over to Jim

I did the Trefriw Mill Fell Race on Saturday 07/10/17. It was the first time I had ran this race which is billed as not being for the ‘feint hearted’ and only for ‘experienced fell runners’ with ‘navigational skills’. It seems that a combination of people taking heed of the race description (quite correctly) and a clash of other fixtures on the day resulted in a small field of around 37 runners.

The race is 10.5 miles with around 3000ft of climb. The terrain has everything from exposed ridges to thick forests and lots of exposed tree roots along the shore of Llyn Geironydd. Heavy rainfall during the hours preceding the race made the rocky descents very slippy and the bogs very deep! Navigation was tricky at times too and knowledge of the route was an advantage to some who managed to pick better lines than I did between the checkpoints.

This was the final race to count in the North Wales Fell Running Series in which I was pushed down from 2nd to 3rd place in my age category by the results of this race. Still, I was happy to receive a a very nice slate trophy for 3rd place. I also picked up a similar trophy for Jim O’Hara for him being 3rd Senior male in the series.

I’m sure there are points that still need to be credited to supporters of races, so please message me if you’ve supported Helsby at a race and not been given a point for it. Its easy enough finding out who ran from the results, but I wouldn’t know if you turned up as a supporter unless you’ve been mentioned in a race report or if I was there myslef.

Thanks,
Jim

So that’s it for this week, just a reminder, we are back at Castle Park on Monday nights now for the winter, 6.30pm start.

30 Helsby Vests where out in force at the season opener in nearby Capenhurst for 2 laps of a measured 5 mile course. A record attendance for this race as well seen 386 runners rock up, with some real quality on show.

Buckley seem to have strengthened again and took the lead at the top of the mens division whilst Ellesmere Port took the lead in the womens race.

Due to there being a lot of clashes in the race calendar i was over the moon to see so many of the #greenarmy in attendance, and everyone including El Capitano brought their voices with them, we were by far the loudest and proudest on the day. It really is a sight for my sore eyes, and after months of gentle persuasion (nagging) i am ever so grateful for each and every one of you that turned up. A big mention to the usual support crew of Joe, Mario, Jane and Leah, oh and I saw Jo Farwell there as well, thanks for the support, and for the rugrats for minding the bags in our deluxe tent.

Col T came home first for the men and a good solid start seen us finish 5th on the day, not far behind West Cheshire, whilst Jane Ashbrook was first home for the ladies, and 6th place on the day for them. It’s not all about placings though, it’s about turning up and enjoying the banter we all seem to have, well I do so I hope you lot do as well.

There’s a lot more to come from us over the next 6 months, and I’m confident that both mens and ladies teams can push on up the league, which again seems like the quality has gone up another level yet again.

Richard Hankins sent in this from the Sandstone A race (won by Max Wainwright)

It was unfortunate that the Sandstone Trail Race clashed with Borders and Congleton this year. Regardless, there was a very strong showing from Helsby: especially in the 17.2 mile A race. The weather was far better on the day than the forecast, warm, still and dry. The previous days however, had seen a prolonged downpour of rain. I ran the route the preceding week and the deterioration in course conditions was marked. The hills were not too bad, but the fields were awful to run through, covered in slippery clay mud. Staying on your feet was at times a real challenge and not all of us managed to.

Seven of us took on the A race with Max Wainwright literally leading the field, his time of 01.59.29 would be impressive any year, but in these conditions it was stunning. Alison Halsall also had a really strong race coming home second lady. Alison and I traded positions several times over the first five miles and towards the end she had better speed than I could muster, almost beating me to the line (although my brain was too oxygen deprived to realise). Neil Finnegan finished well in the top 10 overall and Lesley Feakes also finished in the top 10 for her category with strong performances from David Smith and Gareth Boyd too.

In the B race there was also numerous strong performances. Chrsitina Roach won her age category. Geoff Shaw took the chance to compete with Cute Fruits picking up the organising this year and came third in his category. Chris Morgan also put in an impressive display in the Vet 60 category

A Race Results

B Race Results

Geoff Collins sent this report in from Congleton Half.

On a very busy weekend for races Jim Jones & Geoff Collins headed off to run the Congleton Half Marathon. This was a difficult decision for me but felt duty bound to enter the race having nominated it as a club counter. Of course I didn’t know how many other races would be on that day!

Definitely cleaner than the Sandstone trail, the roads were still very wet and with plenty of farm muck and mud, clean legs were not the order of the day.

It’s put on by Congleton Harriers and had only 418 finishers. The race HQ is Congleton High School with the start and finish on Black Firs Lane a short distance away. It’s a rural undulating course around the country lanes of North West Congleton. Not unlike our own four villages course but a bit more hilly with over 500 feet of climb. The route is an out and back towards the settlement of Newsbank onto the villages of Marton up to Gleadsmoss, Kermincham Heath, and Swettenham. Oh they call the race Sting in the Tail and the eye catching yellow tee-shirts have a large scorpion on them. No there weren’t any predatory arachnids on the course but there are a significant series of climbs over the course, especially the last bit up Radnor Bank to the finish.

We both thought this race seemed harder than we were expecting Jim was hopeful of a time similar to his impressive Macclesfield Half result the week before, I was just hoping for a better time than I got. But it’s a very well run event put on by a friendly local club. Very good support from the marshals on the course, cheap to enter just £18 and a nice goody bag, entries were possible on the day. It would be a good counter next year if the dates don’t clash!